Today's News

Ever spied between the slats of a fence to see pieces of a neatly manicured garden or a backyard sprayed with a rainbow of flowers and wished to see more?

Crane your neck no more; local residents are opening their outdoor oases to the community during the 2010 Garden Tour. The tour, which the New Mexico State University Los Alamos Master Gardeners are sponsoring, will be held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. June 19.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) --" An American armed with a pistol and a 40-inch (102-centimeter) sword was detained in northern Pakistan and told investigators he was on a solo mission to kill Osama bin Laden, a police officer said Tuesday.

The man, identified as 52-year-old Californian construction worker Gary Brooks Faulkner, said he wanted to cross over into the nearby Afghan province of Nuristan because he had "heard bin Laden was living there", according to officer Mumtaz Ahmad Khan.

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Laying the groundwork for an evening speech to the nation, President Barack Obama walked a pristine stretch of sand on Florida's shoreline Tuesday and pledged to "fight back with everything we've got" against the spreading oil lurking offshore.

In a speech at Pensacola's Naval Air Station, Obama took note of the painful contrasts around him: "The sand is white. The water's blue," he said. And yet, he added, "those plumes of oil are off the coast."

OSH, Kyrgyzstan (AP) — Several hundred people have been killed in the riots in Kyrgyzstan, the Red Cross said Tuesday, as new reports strengthened suspicions that the violence was deliberately ignited to undermine the Central Asian nation's interim government.

The southern part of Kyrgyzstan has been convulsed by days of rioting targeting minority Uzbeks, which has left the country's second-largest city, Osh, in smoldering ruins and sent over 100,000 Uzbeks fleeing for their lives to neighboring Uzbekistan.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Staring at extinction, the Big 12 is once again in play.

The beleaguered conference made a rousing comeback Monday, when Texas declined an invitation to join the Pac-10 and decided to stay in the Big 12.

Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M quickly followed the Longhorns by recommitting to the conference after commissioner Dan Beebe convinced his members they would make more money in television and media deals in a 10-team Big 12 then in a 16-team Pac-10.

It was a repeat win for both the top competitors at this 2010 Pajarito Punishment.

The Pajarito Punishment, a New Mexico Off-Road Series race, was held Saturday at Pajarito Mountain. The Punishment is considered one of the toughest races in the NMORS. In all, 151 riders finished Saturday’s race.

PHOENIX — The Internal Revenue Service recently announced the opening of the 2011 Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) grant application process. Applications must be submitted no later than July 16, 2010.

“The Low Income Taxpayer Clinics are vital to taxpayers who need help with tax problems but lack resources,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said. “The grant program’s goal is to develop and expand these important services for low income taxpayers.”

ALBUQUERQUE — Scientists have developed a method for detecting and tracking carbon dioxide deep underground, giving the federal government an important tool as people look for ways to keep carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from crowding the atmosphere.

Scientists working with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory used colorless, nontoxic liquids called perflourocarbon tracers to essentially fingerprint carbon dioxide that was injected into a coal seam in northwestern New Mexico.

Some ideas seem meant to be when things fall easily into place as local veterinarian Bob Fuselier is finding in his endeavor to create an Afghan Sister Village Project.

“This started late last year when I was watching a program on Afghanistan,” Fuselier told an audience assembled at Trinity of the Hill Episcopal Church Wednesday. They were there to hear about Fuselier’s project and to listen to Col. Jay Mitchell, USAF, discuss Afghanistan.